章 2: The Jungle and Lucy.
<Zero seconds to landing>
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The jungle was very calm and peaceful, especially the river. Deers, lions, and elephants alike were drinking water from the same stream. There was a tacit agreement between all the creatures of the forest that no animal could attack the other near the river. Any nature photographer would die to get a look at that picturesque scene. The place was mesmerising and beautiful until a certain someone decided to fall into the river.
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"Aaaaahhhhhh", I screamed while running.
Why was I running? Glad you asked. Well, a very angry hippo was chasing me, now I could've just taken out my wings and flown away, but, you see this damn hippo had crushed my poor wings. The only reason I hadn't become a snack for an angry hippo was due to <lightweight>. Damn, that ability was useful. Ahh, also what the hell is wrong with my luck. Why were there so many animals at that river? And why did I have to fall when this mad hippo was sunbathing.
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<Flashback>
I plunged into the river thanking the two birds that helped me survive. There was another reason I had decided to go into the river, I am a good swimmer. I was also lucky that there were no animals in the stream. Thinking about reigniting my faith in god, I lifted myself out of the river.
As soon as I resurfaced, the familiar blue screen appeared in front of me. The only difference this time was that my surroundings suddenly went black.
<Congratulations to the host for surviving the first mission. The host has been rewarded with <Vision of an AI[lvl 1]>, and the system has been upgraded.>, the system said.
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Mission 1
Survive.
Completed.
1. Vission of an AI: Gives systematic information about the thing on whom or which it has been used.
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"Hmmm", so the skill was a bit like Appraisal, cool.
Immersed in thoughts of how I could use <Vision>, I wasn't able to notice the sudden change in my surroundings and had the fright of my life when I turned around and saw a hippo charging straight towards me. I did try to fly away, but the hippo headbutted me before that. Flung away, I hit a tree knocking the air out of my lungs, I think I might have dislocated a rib or something. I even heard a snap and a crack. Though I wasn't able to pay attention to that because the hippo was still charging in my direction.
Pushing the pain out of my system, I tried to open my wings and move. But, I couldn't. I looked behind me, at my back, and I saw two very fucked up wings. Feathers were strewn all over the place. Blood was oozing out. And the bones were bent at multitudes of angles. My wings were in a very sorry state.
But, I didn't have time, the hippo looked very angry. I didn't even know what the hell happened. So I got up and ran like my life depended on it because it did.
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Cursing my luck and the asshat hippo, I continued running. Did you know that hippos can gallop at around 30 km/hr? No, well I just got to know that, they do say that the path to knowledge is filled with obstacles. I also had one.
Falling over a vine that apparently appeared out of nowhere, I went down the slopy surface we were running on. The hippo stopped chasing me but was still standing there, staring at me. I was rolling down the ground when suddenly, the blue screen appeared.
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<DNA identified: Carpenter ant>
Skills detected.
1. Ant's strength: An ant is one of the strongest creatures alive. Though small, it can lift up to twenty times its weight. With this ability, you will get the strength of an average ant.
2. Hardworking: The ant is a very hardworking creature. They even gather supplies in Summers so that they can survive in the Winters. You will not get tired easily, once you take this ability.
3. Communication: The ants use their antennae to communicate with each other, and are able to cooperate more efficiently. Your ability to understand the body language of different life forms increases.
4. Ant's antennae: The ant uses its antennae to sense scents, prey and predators. You will become more alert and will be able to sense scents and differentiate them. (You won't get antennas.)
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'Did I just kill an ant with my head .... now that, is awesome. I choose <Ant's strength>.' As soon as I clicked on <Ant's strength>, my muscles expanded, not much but I could feel that I had gotten stronger, much more than I previously was, and I could sense it, I would be able to pack quite a punch now. 'Hehe, we are having hippo meat for breakfast today.'
Thinking very wild thoughts, I pierced into the ground with my hands and stopped my fall. I jumped up to my feet and turned around, the hippo was still standing there, and I could feel it, that guy was mocking me. But, it didn't matter and I was confident enough in beating the shit out of that hippo. I grinned, and jumped, running straight towards the hippo. For a second, I think it got confused, wondering why I was running in its direction rather than running away. Finding no answer, it also began charging towards me.
We were just about to hit each other when I sidestepped and punched it in the face. Now it was the hippo's turn to fly away. I was so excited when I saw it flying away, and I started jumping around while holding my hand which was paining like hell. The hippo hit a rock and came to a halt. It looked at me and charged again.
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The fight continued for some time but I was able to eventually kill the hippo. After killing the birds, I think I accepted the fact that I had to kill to survive. And though I had a choice where I could just leave the hippo alive, I was angry at it. My wings were broken because of that damn fatty. And without my wings, I would have to explore this forest and find a way out, on foot. The horror...
I was not able to lift the hippo yet, but I was able to drag it along with me.
I had to travel for around a km before I found a cave. I put the hippo in the cave and left to gather supplies. By the way, I got <Skin of a hippo> from the fatty, the ability enabled me to have bulletproof skin, I don't know to which degree though, but the ability had a major flaw, my torso was not protected. So, I could survive a headshot but not a tummy shot. Huh, funny!
With the system's help, I was able to gather all the necessary equipment to start a fire. I had pieces of wood, some vines, grass and some tree bark. I entered the cave and started the fire. I also created a knife using a sharp rock, some vines and a piece of wood. Though the knife was not that good, I managed to peel the hippo's skin off. According to the system, I had to remove its blood first, so after doing that, I cut the hippo into pieces and put it over the fire. And I'll be frank, hippo meat tastes like shit. Literally, it was horrible. But, I wasn't in the mood to go hunting again, so I just ate it.
After eating my fill, I finally had the chance to breathe.
"Hey system, could you please take a look at my body and give me a health check-up"
<Yes, master.>
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<Status>
Heavily injured, not critical.
Arms: Slashed and scarred. If not treated soon, infections may occur. (For those who don't remember, "the eagle")
Wings: Badly mutilated.
Head: Light injuries.
Wrists and feet: Light swelling.
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<The host is advised to get medications.>
Because of the adrenalin coming off, and due to my sleep being interrupted in the morning, and as my whole body was in pain, I went to sleep.
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After waking up, I started making plans. The most concerning thing for me right now were my injuries, and the only animal I knew that had self - regeneration was a lizard. I didn't know whether I will find a salamander or not, so the next best choice was a lizard. Therefore I left the cave and started searching. It took time, but I found the lizard. I quickly pierced its head with my knife and took some blood from its corpse.
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<DNA identified: Gecko>
Skills detected.
1. Sticky feet: A Gecko has the ability to turn the stickiness using microscopic hair called setae in its feet on and off, allowing them to stick on most surfaces. Setae will be introduced to your body.
2. Water resistance: Water just slides over a gecko's skin, and the gecko is also cleaned due to this water. You will gain resistance to water.
3. Self-regeneration: A lizard has the ability to self-regenerate its tail. You will gain the ability to self-healing faster as you don't have a tail.
4: A lizard's flexibility: You will gain the flexibility of a lizard.
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I clicked on Self-regeneration and left in the direction of my cave.
After entering, I took some wood and vines and made makeshift plasters for my wings. For my arms, I took some leaves, grass and vines and made a bandage type of thing. I also made a band for my wrists with the same material.
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The days went by with me searching for a way out, encountering animals, taking their DNA and hunting for food.
I was also able to heal myself a little bit. My wings were not yet fully mended, heck they hadn't even started mending, my arms though, were much better than before. I also made a vine bag which I used to gather fruits, pebbles, etc.
I also encountered an ocelot kitten. Its mother had been killed by hyenas and it was trying to defend her body. I helped the kitten and massacred the hyenas. Did I ever mention that I love cats? The kitten just started following me after that and I didn't stop it. I always wanted a cat as a pet in the previous world. And it quickly became fun, hanging around with the little kit. I also named her 'Lucy'. She was so cute, I cuddled with her every night and she became damn angry whenever I did that but whatever. I don't think that when she decided to follow me, cuddling was on her list of to-do things.
I also discovered that I get the abilities at the beginner level from each individual I take DNA from, the system though shows me the levels using stars(1 star= Beginner). To raise the levels of that particular ability I had to take DNA from another individual of the same species and the number of animals I had to take the DNA from depended from ability to ability.
I thought that increasing the level of my wings would let me heal them so I searched for eagles and I found many but none were harpy eagles, so I could not test it out.
Another thing I noticed was that I could not take the same abilities from different species. For example, all the <fly> tags in each bird I hunted were greyed out. And I couldn't select them.
The most problematic thing was that the system wasn't answering any of my questions regarding this issue.
The <Vission of an AI> skill was AMAZING, I could do so many things with it. It was just awesome. I could assess the threat levels of different animals, and even locate hidden animals once I scanned a certain area with the skill.
Living in the jungle was very mesmerizing, the air was so fresh. The flora, the fauna, and the whole experience was just very enriching. But I had started to miss the city life and wanted to leave.
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After two months of searching, I finally found an exit. You see, the jungle was divided by a road, so I started waiting near that road. Many cars passed by me, and I think the reason they didn't stop might have had something to do with my jungle looks, if I had a mirror I also would've said that I looked suspicious AF. Soon, a truck stopped in front of me.
"Hey, there, what's your name?" the driver got out of the truck and asked me. I don't think he noticed Lucy. The guy had a shotgun in his hand, I think he was making a power move and trying to see whether I was a bad guy. Ahhh, whatever.
"I am Alex, Alex Alvarez."
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